Pre or Compressor in the signal chain - where?

C

CTyankee

New member
For about a month now, I've been recording acoustic guitar and vocal tracks with a mxl 603 mic into a Behringer UB1202 mixer and then on into my computer's Turtle Beach Montego II soundcard. I'm using Cool Edit as my wave editor/recorder. Generally, I'm real pleased with the sound, and find that each new mix gets better. It's great fun and I'm real pleased to be playing guitar again after a long hiatus. As my skills increase, I know I will begin thinking about adding a better mic pre and even a compressor to my setup to add warmth and presence. This is not a post to ask what the best gear is! There are enough of those threads already!!!

Right now I need to learn and experiment a lot more before I do anything. But what I don't completely understand is where a mic pre or outboard compressor sits in the signal chain. My UB 1202 already has pre mics. If I go from mic to mic pre to a mixer with mic pres, how do I set the 2 phantom power settings and two gain settings that are now part of the chain? Also, some of the compressors I've seen have xlr input/output and some just have 1/4 inch (I think). If they only have 1/4 inch does that mean they are used as an effect? And if they have xlrs wher do they sit in the chain? If someone could clear this up for me I would be very grateful
 
I can't speak for ALL outboard pre-amp's, but the ones in my price range (like the M-Audio DMP3) all seem to output a line-level signal, meaning they use a 1/4" TS (unbalanced) or TRS (balanced) cable. So the easiest thing to do would be to just plug your pre into your mixer's line-level input (the NON-XLR one). I'm not sure if this bypasses the pre on your mixer or not, or if there's a way to turn it off. If not, you probably want to set the gain such that the mixer's pre isn't coloring the incoming signal by boosting or decreasing the signal. You'd probably have to check out your mixer's manual to figure out how to do this properly. I don't have any mixer experience so hopefully someone else will help you with that part. :)
 
whether a compressor has 1/4" TRS or XLR inputs has no effect on its function. both can carry a balanced line-level signal.
 
Thanks, I think I've got it. The Behringer UB 1202 has 4 Mic Preamps w/ +48v phantom power which can accept either an XLR, 1/4" TRS balanced or unbalanced input. If I don't have an outboard pre, I use these. If I get another preamp, I'll bypass these inputs entirely and use one of the remaining eight 1/4" TRS balanced inputs. Then I use the outboard pre's phantom power, set the gain on the pre and just adjust the level on the mixer channel. Do I have it straight?

Would this also be true for an outboard compressor?

Thanks everyone.
 
you can go from an outboard pre into any of the 1/4" inputs on your mixer -- even on the channels that also have a preamp. on most gear, when you see a 1/4" jack, you can be reasonably sure it is for line level signals. XLRs are used in different occasions for both mic level and line level.

you could use your compressor in a number of different configurations. the most straightforward would just be to go mic-pre-comp-soundcard.
 
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